The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has approved parking fines in London to be increased up to £160 from the current £130, which is around a 23% increase. This is yet another potential cost increase of being a Private Hire Driver in London. Often drivers can end up parking or making mistakes while driving, which will weigh heavily on their overall cost of driving to make a living.
The mayor approved requests from the 33 boroughs of London to increase penalty charge notices (PCN’s). The increase is apparently to deter anti-social and obstructive parking, as well as helping boroughs raise more through fines to combat such issue. We know for a fact that London Boroughs already make millions from PCN’s. So, one could question if this is just pure greed or an actual scheme to make a difference on London roads.
This is yet another tax on London drivers on top of the Congestion Charge, ULEZ Charge and upcoming Tunnel Tolls. For those who live and work in London, they also face the increasing costs of living in London, food, fuel and energy prices are at an all-time high.
Inner London which falls under Band A will see charges go from £130 to £160 and Suburban town centres within the Boroughs who are Band B will increase their PCN’s from £110 to £140 (around a 27% increase).
These new increased fines will not only affect parking PCN’s but will also be applied to PCN’s given by CCTV, for example using a Bus Lane fine, which are called moving traffic PCN’s.
Here is a list of boroughs and what band they fall in and how much the fines will increase to:
Some boroughs fall into 2 bands, so you will need to check the area you are parking in to see how much the fine will be.
Band A Parking Fine Boroughs – Fines increasing to £160
- Tower Hamlets
- Hackney
- Newham
- Islington
- Camden
- City of London
- City of Westminster
- Kensington & Chelsea
- Hammersmith & Fulham
- Hounslow
- Ealing
- Brent
- Barney
- Haringey
- Enfield
- Waltham Forest
- Redbridge
- Greenwich
- Parts of Barking & Dagenham
- Parts of Southwark
- Parts of Lewisham
- Parts of Lambeth
- Parts of Wandsworth
- Parts of Havering
- Parts of Bexley
- Parts of Bromley
- Merton
- Croydon
Band B Parking Fine Boroughs – Fines increasing to £140
- Harrow
- Hillingdon
- Richmond
- Kingston
- Sutton
- Majority of Wandsworth
- Parts of Lambeth
- Parts of Southwark
- Parts of Lewisham
- Majority of Bromley
- Majority of Bexley
- Majority of Barking & Dagenham
- Majority of Havering
Bus Lane (Moving Traffic) Fines will go from £130 to £160
Parking on Red Route in London will incur a £160 fine.
The normal rule of payment within 14 days to get a 50% discount will still be in effect.
Private Hire Drivers spend significantly more time on London roads and therefore are more at risk of being fined. This is yet another cost increase for PHV drivers who already pay more for vehicle insurance, and have a higher fuel cost and ever-reducing earnings due to the most popular apps reducing rates and taking higher percentage cuts from jobs.
The official date for when the new PCN fines will come into operation have not been announced and there is still time for the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to raise her objections against the approval. We hope that these objections go through and stop such increases and give Londoners a break from these plans to squeeze out every single penny from our hard earned money.
